Dokument #1354015
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
According to a 12 May 1997 report from the
The Grand Forks Herald, many Christians waved flags of the
Lebanese Forces during the Pope's visit. In its May 1997 edition
the newsletter ShuFiMaFi reports that many of the people
crowding the road between Jounieh and Beirut during the Pope's
visit were holding pictures of Michel Aoun and Samir Geagea. Mr.
Geagea is the former leader of the Lebanese Forces. AFP reports
that some Christians were able to scream pro-Geagea and pro-Aoun
slogans while the Pope was passing (10 May 1997).
The following information was provided
during a 27 January 1998 telephone interview with the
Secretary-General of the Comité Arabe des Droits Humain who
is the former representative of the Arab section of the
Fédération des Ligues Internationale des Droits de
l'Homme.
The Secretary-General stated that there was
no official Lebanese Forces demonstration during the Pope's visit
to Lebanon. Some well-known supporters of the Lebanese Forces and
other Christian opposition groups such as the Aounists were
arrested before they could reach the town of Harissa where the Pope
was meeting with Lebanese Christian representatives and Christians
in general. The security forces released the people involved after
a few hours of detention. The Secretary-General indicated that no
one was hurt.
The following information was provided
during a 30 January 1998 telephone interview with the Paris-based
General Coordinator of the Lebanese National Congress
(Congrès National Libanais), an organization that support
Michel Aoun.
The Coordinator stated that members of the
Lebanese Forces and supporters of Michel Aoun were arrested during
the Pope's visit in May 1997. While the Lebanese Forces supporters
were arrested during the Pope's appearance in Harissa, Aoun's
supporters were arrested in Beirut in the area of Ain el-Ramani
(East-Beirut) on the road to Baabda. On both occasions the army
"intervened timidly" to take a small number of demonstrators into
detention for few hours. The Coordinator could not provide details
on the number and the identity of those arrested. He added that no
harm was done to those arrested during these incidents.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 10 May 1997.
Nagib Khazzaka. "Le pape défend l'existence d'un Liban
souverain et convivial."
General-Coordinator of Lebanese National
Congress, Paris, France. 30 January 1998. Telephone interview.
Comité Arabe des Droits Humains,
Paris, France. 28 January 1998. Telephone interview with
Secretary-General.
The Grand Forks Herald. 12 May
1997. "Pope Appeals to Lebanese to Forget Tears of Muslim-Christian
Strife." URL://www.gfherald.com/news/docs/021052.htm. [Accessed on
30 Jan. 1998]
ShuFiMaFi [Beirut]. May 1997.
"Popular Explosion Greets Pope."
URL://www.idrel.com.lb/idrel/gppa/shuf0597.htm. [Accessed on 26
Jan. 1998]